Plane crashes; family aboard is safe

TITUSVILLE -- A small plane with a family of four on board crashed into power lines shortly after takeoff Sunday, but the family apparently escaped with minor injuries, police said.

The 39-year-old pilot, his 37-year-old wife, and their two children, ages 11 and 9, escaped from the wreckage of the Beechcraft Sierra, police said. They were trying to return home to Summerfield, N.C., from a Florida cruise vacation.

The plane lost power shortly after takeoff at Space Coast Regional Airport, then clipped two power lines and fell into a swath of trees inside airport property, police spokesman Todd Hutchinson said.

"The plane was heavily damaged. Luckily, they all got out and walked away," Hutchinson said.

Firefighters extinguished a small fire sparked by the downed power lines. The family members, whose identities were not released, were taken to Parrish Medical Center as a precaution.

"They were obviously visibly shaken and were a little disoriented," Hutchinson said.